Refrigerant container for refrigerator cars



Jan. 18, 1949. E. R. BATTLEY ETAL BEFRIGERANT CONTAINER FOR REFRIGERATORCARS Filed March 17, 1947 mmvroxs 502047; E. BQZZZL-y BY Geqge 5 M C0Patented Jan. 18, 1949 REFRIGERANT CONTAINER FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS EdwinR. Battley and George E. McCoy, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Originalapplication January 26, 1945, Serial No. 574,790. Divided and thisapplication March 17, 1947, Serial No. 735,105

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to railroad refrigerator cars having hatches inthe roof thereof through which refrigerant containers, positionedimmediately below the roof, but spaced slightly therefrom for aircirculation therebetween, are serviced, said containers having openingsin the top surface thereof registering with the hatch openings in thecar roof, and is an improvement over the construction shown in BonsallPatent No. 2,136,999 of November 15, 1938.

The invention more specifically relates to such cars having refrigerantcontainers of the solid type for holding brine or water ice as therefrigerating medium, and which containers, therefore, must have meansto prevent service movements of the car from causing the liquid in saidcontainers to surge out through the filling opening into said spacethereabove and thence into the car.

An object of the invention is to so associate the container with theroof and hatch plug so that when the plug is opened for ventilation aircoming into the car through the hatch may circulate about the containerand enter the lading compartment of the car.

Another object of the invention is to provide means between therefrigerant container and the car roof so as to materially retard, ifnot prevent, surging of the liquid therein out through the fillingopening.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in thefollowing description thereof.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings forming part of thisapplication and wherein like reference characters indicate like parts:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of part of a railway car showing theinvention.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

In the drawings, i represents the side wall of a refrigerator car, and 2the roof thereof, both of which, it will be understood, are of suitableinsulated construction, the details of which may be omitted, since theyform no part of our present invention.

A hatch opening 3 is formed in the roof 2, extending therethrough and isprovided with a hatch frame as is common. Immediately below the roof,but spaced slightly therefrom, is a refrlgerant container 4, having anopening 5 in the upper surface thereof which registers with the hatchopening 3. The container 4 is spaced from the roof 2 to provide an aircirculating and air cooling space It, and also to provide a path forventilating air to the interior of the car when the hatch plug isremoved or raised for ventilate ing purposes.

As is common in refrigerator cars of this type, a substantiallyhorizontally disposed drip pan (or ceiling) 1 is installed below therefrigerant container 4 and spaced slightly therefrom to form an aircooling space H therebetween. This drip pan extends from approximatelythe longitudinal center of the car l9 where it is provided with anupwardly extending baflle 8. Space l1 communicates with flue 9associated with said wall I. A path for circulating air, when the car isunder ventilation, is thus provided around the container to anddownwardly through the interior of the car, as indicated by the arrows.

Figures 1 and 2 show the refrigerant containers being formed ofseparable parts. The top of the container is made separate from theremainder of the container and the downwardly and outwardly inclinedcollar 30 welded or otherwise 86- cured to an upstanding flange 3| aboutthe perimeter of the filling opening '32. The hatch frame 33 projectsdownwardly into the collar so that the lower margin of said hatch frameand collar 30 cooperate to retard splashing of liquid in the containerinto the space l6 between the container and the roof.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the preferred form of theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as itis obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of theclaims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

This is a division of our co-pending application Serial No. 574,790,filed January 26, 1945, now Patent No. 2,453,294, granted November 9,1948.

We claim:

1. In a refrigerator car having a hatch opening in the roof thereof anda hatch frame therein extending below said roof container disposed belowand spaced from said roof to provide air circulating space therebetweenand having a filling opening therein registering with said hatchopening, and means to prevent liquid within the container from surgingout of the filling opening into said space during service movements ofthe car without preventing air communication between said hatch openingand said air circulating space, said means comprising an upstandingflange around said filling opening and a separate collar secured to saidflange in spaced relation to said frame and having a part extending intothe container to retard surging of liquid therein through said fillingopening, said flange and collar overlapping said hatch frame.

2. In a refrigerator car having a hatch opening frame depending belowthe roof of the car, a refrigerant container spaced below the roof ofthe car so as to provide a space between the roof and the containerhatch opening and the interior of the car for ventilation, saidcontainer having a filling openlng registering with the hatch opening,said frame extending through and below the filling opening, and a collarsecured to the container at the edge of the filling opening, said collarhaving a substantially vertical portion projecting into the containerand a, horizontal portion spaced from said frame, whereby surging liquidin the container is bafiled by the lower part of the frame and thevertical portion of the collar without preventing ventilating air fromthe hatch opening enterin the space between the roof and the container.

3. In a refrigerator car having a hatch opening which communicates withthe in the roof thereof, a refrigerant container disposed below andspaced from said roof to provide an air circulating space therebetween,a filling opening in said container registering with said hatch opening,and a collar formed at the edges of said filling opening and extendingthereabove and within said container to retard surging of liquid throughsaid opening, and a, hatch frame within saidhatch opening extendingthrough said space and within said collar.

EDWIN R. BATTLEY.

GEORGE E. 'McCOY.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES Name Date Zimmerman Jan. 18, 1876 Number

